


What If

by Jadzia7667



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-28 16:03:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10133249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadzia7667/pseuds/Jadzia7667
Summary: What if Petunia had retrieved Harry from the stoop without touching the basket he was in, or the letter that was with him?Just a snippet/character study kinda thing.





	

Petunia Evans Dursley woke just before six in the morning, as she always did on weekdays. She slipped out of bed, intent on getting herself a cup of tea before her son woke and demanded all her attention. She attended to her ablutions and dressed quickly before going downstairs to put the kettle on. Peering into the fridge, she saw the milk bottle was nearly empty. That wouldn’t do; Dudley would be awake soon and ready for his first breakfast. Just then she heard the rumble of the milk truck and the clank of the basket containing her order being set on the stoop. A moment later, she opened the front door. Without looking ‘round, she took the basket inside and quickly put away the milk, eggs, and cheese. 

The front door didn’t latch properly; that’s what made her go back. She was only going to close the door. As she started to do so, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. It was a wicker basket, of all things. Pushing the door open wider, she stepped through and dropped to her knees in disbelief. She blinked once and took a hitching breath, for she knew, she KNEW, what she was seeing, even if she didn’t want to. She forced herself to be calm, forced her brain to interpret what her eyes were seeing.

Carefully, she reached out and touched the baby’s cheek, running her finger down the soft pale skin. Her breath hitched again in the beginning of a sob. She whispered, “Oh, no. Oh, no. Lily. Oh, no.” Carefully, so carefully, she stood, then bent to pick up the babe and the blanket he was wrapped in. The blanket glowed with ten plus generations of Potter family protective magic, though Petunia couldn’t see it. She pulled Harry close to her, resting his sleeping head on her shoulder. Her trembling fingers drifted through his dark curls, then swept down his back, automatically checking for injuries as she soothed the child and held him securely. Distantly, she heard the teakettle shriek its readiness. She turned toward the door, and went inside with her sister’s child.

She didn’t see the letter with her name on it. She certainly didn’t see the behavioral charms that dissipated as soon as she accepted the child into her home without touching the letter. She wouldn’t remember the basket at all. It was layered with charms similar to the ones on the letter and wasn’t touched by any of the Dursleys. A gust of wind picked up both basket and letter that afternoon and carried them away. Eventually, the basket landed in a gutter several miles away. Soon, the only things left to mark its passing were the dead rodents and insects that came into contact with the dark magic soaked wicker.

The wards, dependent on familial love, sealed strongly the instant Petunia Evans Dursley tearfully promised the sleeping baby boy that she’d be his Mother now. She vowed to care for him, love him, and raise him properly, as her sister would’ve done had their positions been reversed. She couldn’t see it, but at the moment she paused to take a breath, the wards bloomed a bright gold. They were dome shaped and encompassed the entire village. Within those wards, she and her family were safe from all wizards who meant them – any of them – any harm. No wizard, light or dark, could find them unless Petunia, as Harry Potter’s guardian and closest blood relative, allowed it.

Petunia lay the child carefully on the davenport in the lounge. Then she collapsed on the floor next to him and sobbed her heart out. She knew her sister was dead.


End file.
